Actor Dileep got support from AMMA vice president KB Ganesh Kumar who said that expulsion of the actor from the organisation was ‘illegal’.

Actor Dileep was arrested on July 10 in connection to the abduction and sexual assault on a Malayalam actress.

After several attempts, actor Dileep finally secured a conditional bail on October 3, 2017. Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) vice president and Pathanapuram MLA, KB Ganesh Kumar has now questioned the wisdom behind the expulsion of the accused actor from AMMA.

Speaking to The News Minute, Ganesh said that there was no reason for AMMA to cancel the accused actor’s primary membership. He further said that Mammootty may have decided to expel Dileep under pressure from Prithviraj.

It may be recalled that Dileep was removed from the association after he was arrested in July. The Malayalam actor is the main accused in the abduction and sexual assault on the Malayalam actress in February this year.

“They (Prithviraj) have vendetta against Dileep. So, maybe Mammootty took such a decision because of pressure from Prithviraj and to satisfy the media. Technically, one or two persons like the President or Secretary cannot expel an AMMA member. He was not expelled legally,” Ganesh said.

Further elaborating on the case, he said, “The committee can only suspend Dileep but can’t expel him. There is a disciplinary committee and they will have to investigate the issue. Then it has to be analysed by another three member committee. Only then can a person can be expelled. In Dileep’s case, nothing like that happened.”

Dileep was thrown out of AMMA on July 11, a day after his arrest. The organisation had called an emergency meeting at Mammootty’s residence in Kochi and had decided to cancel Dileep’s membership. The announcement was made jointly by Mammootty and Mohanlal.

Calling the expulsion illegal, he further added, “Dileep’s expulsion is not legal. I was among those who wrote the rules for AMMA. So I can assert confidently that he can’t be expelled. I visited Dileep in jail because of my personal relationship with him, not as AMMA vice president. An organisation cannot decide that someone is guilty before the court does so.”